I know a lot of you are shocked at how you are treated by Paypal and at some of the stores by employees, but I wanted to share my story with you, so you know why they act the way they do.
I got my credit card stolen during the holiday shopping period last year. It started with a few bucks at Petco... I had bought a gift for my dog at Petco the week previous, but this Petco was in a different state. That same day, another multi-hundred dollar amount was also charged at Petco, and then another $9 at a fast food joint, all in the same city and state as the previous charge.
*Trying a small amount as a test and then doing a large amount later is a common tactic for fraud, so don't think that if you do a little and it goes through, you are safe to do a large charge. That actually IS a fraudulent pattern, as is other small purchases at other places.
Then my debit card number was stolen and used at a Home Depot about an hour from us. $500 out of your bank account is NOT fun. I called the Home Depot where the charge went through and found out way more than I ever wanted to know about fraud and fraud rings.
*Some people actually make purchases with their own cards and then dispute them so they don't have to pay the charge. Yeah, that's why they use video monitors and check them when a dispute is filed. Millions of innocents now have a hard time getting their money back for legitimate reasons because some stupid people don't want to pay their own bills.
*The people who make the fraudulent purchases with your cards appear to be regular people and are just the pawns of the people running the operation. They do jail time, but won't talk because they will get shot, or family members will get shot. How they get in this situation, I don't know, but arguing that you are an ordinary person on the phone doesn't help, because there have been other ordinary people who have fallen into a trap and been used. Again, ruining things for the rest of us. They most often buy gift cards at these locations... see why you are viewed with skepticism- because last week, someone who looked nice walked in and bought a couple hundred dollars worth of gift cards just like you, and then a few days later, the manager and employees found out that nice person had used a stolen credit card... or they actually traced the stolen credit cards to gift cards, which were used to buy more gift cards. There are just as many people committing fraud doing this as honest people, if not more, so don't be shocked when you get questioned.
Fraud is an awful problem, and all of the loopholes we find are being exploited by unsavory people. Remember when Target giftcards went out of stock so fast on ebay before they were pulled? I wonder if a fraud ring got ahold of this and was using it to the max. These businesses loose a lot of money/have to pay for a lot of very expensive accounting and legal work to deal with the government investigation and credit card fraud departments to clear things up for themselves. There is a time when it just becomes a hassle for the company to deal with the problem and costs them more time and money than they make. Most of the kiosks and stands in the local stores and even online are third party sellers for companies like giftcardmall. They make a pretty margin, and the inventory is pretty cheap and easy to handle so it's a desirable product, but who do you go to when someone steals your giftcard number and uses it? The place where you bought the giftcard, not the administrator (giftcardmall). They have to pay for the customer service problems. I think this is why they make blanket policies, and sometimes individual stores have their own policies. I went to a Kmart in a not as nice part of my metro area, and their gift card displays all had signs saying explicitly that gift cards of any kind could only be purchased with cash or debit card... not even credit cards. Another Sears had weird allowances for some gift cards I had- they could only be used for clothing and appliances under $1000. What? What if I want a nice new fridge? Couldn't buy it with giftcards at this location. Obviously, these stores in these parts of town had previous issues significant enough that the managers made some crazy policies. But when you are the one answering to corporate at to why your store lost $100,000 due to fraud, I think you would be pretty skeptical of such charges as well. Anywhere you can get free money (especially using cash alternatives because they are hard to trace and discounts or cash back are viewed as rebates by the IRS and not taxed) is a place for others to as well, and you will be playing with others who DON"T follow the rules and don't care who they crush along the way.
I'm not saying you shouldn't take advantage of arbitrage opportunities, but know that just as often as these people talk to legitimate customers, they talk to frauds or are dealing with people who have had their accounts hacked or fraudulent accounts opened in their name/ people who had their credit cards stolen. They aren't going to give you the benefit of the doubt, so you calmly have to prove to them that you are you and you are doing something perfectly legal, because the next person in line is doing the same thing as you and is doing it illegally.
I got my credit card stolen during the holiday shopping period last year. It started with a few bucks at Petco... I had bought a gift for my dog at Petco the week previous, but this Petco was in a different state. That same day, another multi-hundred dollar amount was also charged at Petco, and then another $9 at a fast food joint, all in the same city and state as the previous charge.
*Trying a small amount as a test and then doing a large amount later is a common tactic for fraud, so don't think that if you do a little and it goes through, you are safe to do a large charge. That actually IS a fraudulent pattern, as is other small purchases at other places.
Then my debit card number was stolen and used at a Home Depot about an hour from us. $500 out of your bank account is NOT fun. I called the Home Depot where the charge went through and found out way more than I ever wanted to know about fraud and fraud rings.
*Some people actually make purchases with their own cards and then dispute them so they don't have to pay the charge. Yeah, that's why they use video monitors and check them when a dispute is filed. Millions of innocents now have a hard time getting their money back for legitimate reasons because some stupid people don't want to pay their own bills.
*The people who make the fraudulent purchases with your cards appear to be regular people and are just the pawns of the people running the operation. They do jail time, but won't talk because they will get shot, or family members will get shot. How they get in this situation, I don't know, but arguing that you are an ordinary person on the phone doesn't help, because there have been other ordinary people who have fallen into a trap and been used. Again, ruining things for the rest of us. They most often buy gift cards at these locations... see why you are viewed with skepticism- because last week, someone who looked nice walked in and bought a couple hundred dollars worth of gift cards just like you, and then a few days later, the manager and employees found out that nice person had used a stolen credit card... or they actually traced the stolen credit cards to gift cards, which were used to buy more gift cards. There are just as many people committing fraud doing this as honest people, if not more, so don't be shocked when you get questioned.
Fraud is an awful problem, and all of the loopholes we find are being exploited by unsavory people. Remember when Target giftcards went out of stock so fast on ebay before they were pulled? I wonder if a fraud ring got ahold of this and was using it to the max. These businesses loose a lot of money/have to pay for a lot of very expensive accounting and legal work to deal with the government investigation and credit card fraud departments to clear things up for themselves. There is a time when it just becomes a hassle for the company to deal with the problem and costs them more time and money than they make. Most of the kiosks and stands in the local stores and even online are third party sellers for companies like giftcardmall. They make a pretty margin, and the inventory is pretty cheap and easy to handle so it's a desirable product, but who do you go to when someone steals your giftcard number and uses it? The place where you bought the giftcard, not the administrator (giftcardmall). They have to pay for the customer service problems. I think this is why they make blanket policies, and sometimes individual stores have their own policies. I went to a Kmart in a not as nice part of my metro area, and their gift card displays all had signs saying explicitly that gift cards of any kind could only be purchased with cash or debit card... not even credit cards. Another Sears had weird allowances for some gift cards I had- they could only be used for clothing and appliances under $1000. What? What if I want a nice new fridge? Couldn't buy it with giftcards at this location. Obviously, these stores in these parts of town had previous issues significant enough that the managers made some crazy policies. But when you are the one answering to corporate at to why your store lost $100,000 due to fraud, I think you would be pretty skeptical of such charges as well. Anywhere you can get free money (especially using cash alternatives because they are hard to trace and discounts or cash back are viewed as rebates by the IRS and not taxed) is a place for others to as well, and you will be playing with others who DON"T follow the rules and don't care who they crush along the way.
I'm not saying you shouldn't take advantage of arbitrage opportunities, but know that just as often as these people talk to legitimate customers, they talk to frauds or are dealing with people who have had their accounts hacked or fraudulent accounts opened in their name/ people who had their credit cards stolen. They aren't going to give you the benefit of the doubt, so you calmly have to prove to them that you are you and you are doing something perfectly legal, because the next person in line is doing the same thing as you and is doing it illegally.
It usually only takes about 45 minutes. Anyone else having this issue today?
